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Artificial intelligence will widen the chasm that already separates the rich and the poor, a former Microsoft and Google executive has warned

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The gulf that exists between rich and poor will only widen with the adoption of artificial intelligence, says a former Microsoft and Google exec.

Tech Underneath all the AI hype is the likelihood it threatens the poor, says this former Microsoft and Google exec (GOOG, GOOGL) Greg Sandoval | 16:00 | 08.09.2018

The gulf that exists between rich and poor will only widen with the adoption of artificial intelligence, says a former Microsoft and Google exec.

All around the tech sector, AI is being celebrated but some technologists warn that workers should beware. Kai-Fu Lee, a former Microsoft, Google, and Apple executive, predicts that AI will enrich a relatively few companies at the same time it takes over jobs once filled by workers. The result of AI will be that the rich get richer and the poor... Artificial intelligence will widen the chasm that already separates the rich and the poor, warns a former Microsoft and Google executive. The comments, made by Kai-Fu Lee during a panel discussion at the Artificial Intelligence 2018 Conference in San Francisco on Thursday, weren't well received. Of course not.

The conference is partly a celebration of AI. The atmosphere among the many researchers and engineers who attended was one of back patting and self congratulations. And who can blame them? Through their efforts, the use of AI is beginning to change industry and it's only a matter of time, say many experts, before AI will begin to transform the rest of society.

But then came Kai-Fu Lee's turn at the mic. An investor who previously oversaw businesses in China for both Microsoft and Google and who also worked many years for Apple, Lee cleared his throat and essentially took a sledge hammer to AI's kumbaya moment. First, he acknowledged AI's many positive contributions, to the environment, healthcare and so on. Then, he said this: